Ain’t no mischief like statistical mischief.
Consider a recent Vanderbilt University survey. It found that 52 percent of Tennesseans thought their own public schools deserved a grade of A or B. But they took a notably less cheery view of the state’s schools overall.
Translation: My school is great. Yours? Well, get ready for the late shift at Taco Barn.
The most dishonest thing to do with such a finding is to cite it as proof that all is more or less dandy in the schools. It is easy but misleading to suggest that if people like their own schools — which they know the most about — their worries about the quality of schools they’re less familiar with are irrelevant.
Here’s the problem with that theory: Parents might not like to admit to pollsters, “Yeah, my kid’s school is pretty much a dropout mill,” because that would force them to ask themselves whether they’re trying to secure a better education for their children. Far easier to tut-tut about those “other schools.”